United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of Devices for Improving Traction Control in Winter Conditions
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2016-07-31
[PDF-4.78 MB]
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NTL Classification:NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway Safety
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Abstract:Winter storms can deposit snow and ice on California’s highways, which results in a significant loss of friction at the tire-road interface.The reduced friction in turn reduces the ability of vehicles to maintain stability and control, thus creating hazardous conditions. Accordingly, many states, including California, require the use of traction control devices, such as tire chains, on travelling vehicles to improve safety under winter conditions. A wide variety of winter traction control devices are available, and many devices are underdevelopment. While traction control devices are required in numerous states under extreme winter conditions, no uniform standards existfor their use or for their qualification testing. This report documents a survey of winter traction control devices and categorizes themaccording to their structures. Second, this report discusses the various methods used to measure road friction under winter conditions withthe aim to understand how traction control devices can be tested and thus qualified for use. This work has investigated the methods usedby transportation agencies, and we have found that only three government agencies use qualification testing. Each method uses a comparative approach, with the traditional snow chain serving as the baseline device.
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